Web apps, portals, and mobile apps

When you need a solution that does something genuinely specific — run a process, handle data in its own way, provide a highly customised user interface — I will build it from scratch, designed around your requirements. That means there's no limiting set of features to work within. It can be shaped to your exact needs: the way your data is organised, the steps a task follows, the rules your business runs on, and the way people actually use it day to day. The software is built to fit your process, rather than adapting your process to fit the software.

This can be a web application, a mobile app, a secure portal, or a highly functional website — sometimes a combination. Whatever the shape, what they share is that they're built around a specific need, and built to grow and adapt as that need changes.

Custom doesn't have to mean an enterprise budget. Because I build on proven, well-established foundations rather than reinventing the groundwork for every project, development is faster and more efficient — which keeps custom software within reach for small businesses, non-profits, and sole traders, not just large organisations.

There are no hidden costs waiting once it's live, either. Most web applications run on ordinary, low-cost web hosting — no enterprise infrastructure, no mandatory cloud retainers, no surprise bills as you grow.

And because the software is yours, you're not renting access to your own tools. Beyond hosting you pay once to build what you need; you don't pay a monthly, per-user subscription just to keep using your own operational systems.

We start with a conversation to outline what you actually need and how it should work. From there, I build your application on my development web-server and give you access as soon as there's something to see. You watch it take shape, try it out at each stage, and tell me what's working and what needs adjusting while it's still easy to change. Nothing is a surprise at handover, because you've seen it growing the whole way.

Once it's finished and you're happy with it, I deploy it to the hosting, ready to use — and it's yours from that point on.

Owning it doesn't mean you're on your own with it. Software isn't finished at launch — it needs looking after, updating, and occasionally extending as your needs change. I am happy to offer maintenance, updates, new features, and support through its whole life, for as long as you want me involved. You get the independence of owning your software, and my commitment to provide support all the way.

A children's and school psychologist came to me with a set of wellbeing cards she used in her practice — a proven, valuable tool, but one that only worked on paper, in person. She wanted to put it into the hands of teachers, other psychologists and ultimately the young people who needed it, wherever they were. So I built it into a proper application: something they can use on their own phone, at their own pace, whenever they need it.

Schools, teachers, parents and psychologists can sign up for subscription-based access through the online platform, and the app installs on both their own and the children's mobile devices.

It's a good illustration of what this kind of work involves — taking a real idea from someone who isn't a big organisation with a big budget, and turning it into secure, well-built software that does exactly what it needs to.

Accessibility & data protection

Because this app is used by young people, getting the details right mattered enormously. It's built to be fully accessible to the [WCAG 2.2 standard](/blog/135-web-accessibility-why-it-matters), so it works for users of all abilities — and it handles personal data carefully and transparently, in line with [GDPR](/blog/132-gdpr-website-compliance-guide), with a one-click option for account holders to export all their data at any time.

Read the full story of the School Wellbeing Cards app →